Superfast broadband kicked into the long grass after tax break was dropped from Queen's Speech

The pledge of a £60 million subsidy to hasten the roll-out of superfast broadband is under threat after the Local Government Finance Bill collapsed.

The tax break in business rates for those building cable networks was promised as part of the £23 billion infrastructure package revealed in last year’s Autumn Statement.

But Nick Cooper, an official at the Department for Communities and Local Government, is understood to have told a meeting of business rates experts last week that the scheme cannot now be introduced in the short-term. Ministers are thought to be looking at ways to re-establish the pledge.

Dropped line: A £60 million subsidy to telecom giants is gone

The Local Government Finance Bill was absent from the Queen’s Speech ten days ago, leading many to speculate that it had been dropped as part of measures to set time aside to deal with Brexit.

The news on broadband is the latest side-effect in the collapse of plans to implement the Bill, which included sweeping changes to the way local authorities are funded.

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Cooper was speaking at the National Ratings Day conference held in London on Thursday.

Mark Rigby, head of ratings specialist CVS, said: ‘The relief was an incentive for telecom giants to move further and faster to create a digital economy that works for all. The Government must find an immediate solution to ensure that UK business can compete on the global stage post-Brexit.’